IN OTHER WORDS : New ties

A policy of enlightened cooperation with Vietnam may be therapeutic for an administration that badly needs to recover from superpower arrogance. So there is reason to cheer the recent historic visit to the US of senior Vietnamese officials, led by Vietnam’s PM Phan Van Khai. Their meetings produced agreements that are noteworthy — not only as signs that the two nations have overcome the legacy of a war but also that both recognise their mutual interest in forging cooperative relations. Bush said the US will support Vietnam’s bid to join the WTO. For Vietnam, entry into the WTO amounts to belated membership in the global economic village. It also suits the interests of an America that wants integration of developing countries into a global free market.

The only surprise is that it has taken so long to reach this point. It has been a decade since President Clinton established normal relations with Vietnam. In what appeared a tacit quid pro quo for US backing of Vietnam’s entry into the WTO, Bush announced what he called “a landmark agreement that will make it easier for people to worship freely in Vietnam.” We hope that Bush also pressed Khai to release from years of confinement 87-year-old Thich Huyen Quang, head of the Unified Buddhist Church, which is not recognised by the Vietnamese communist government. — The Boston Globe